Unrobbed Sabi Baekje-era Tomb yields Human Bones and Gilt-bronze Earrings

Called "Sabi" during the Baekje period (18 BC~660 AD), present-day Buyeo, Chungcheongnam-do was the last capital of the kingdom. Modern historians refers to Baekje of the era as Sabi Baekje (AD 538-660). For this reason, there are many legacies left by Baekje around in this area, located in the midwest of the Korean Peninsula. 

A recent excavation and investigation of a typical tomb of Baekje-era on the eastern outskirts of the city by the Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage found bones of two human beings and gilt-bronze earrings inside. 

 

 

The Institute, with the discovery and report of a Baekje stone chamber tomb with a corridor(橫穴式 石室墓) that has not been robbed, accordingly commenced an emergency excavation. 
* Excavation Site: San1-6, Eungpyeong-ri, Chochon-myeon, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do 

The region of Eungpyeong-ri, Buyeo has a distribution of many ancient tombs from during the Sabi Period of Baekje, and thus is assumed to have been the strongpoint at the eastern border of Sabi Capital City.

This ancient tomb was discovered due to the ceiling stones being partially damaged while readjusting fields, and when looking in the coffin, materials including human remains (skulls) remained rather intact, and there were no signs of robbery as well.

 

Therefore, after an intimate negotiation process with the Cultural Heritage Administration, Buyeo-gun and the landowner, and as a part of affirmative administration, The Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage conducted an emergency excavation.

Research showed that the ancient tomb is a stone chamber tomb with a corridor, and the remaining state is very good overall.

The structure consists of the main chamber (玄室) where the corpse is placed, the tomb entrance passage (羨道), and the grave entrance (墓道), with the tomb entrance passage being at the right side of the main chamber.

The size of the main chamber is 220 in length, 110cm in width, and 115cm in height while the section shape is hexagonal.

 

 

Also, The rocks used in the stone chamber tombs, they used well-trimmed, large stone slabs to construct them. This is a typical type of stone chamber tomb that was popular during the Sabi Period of Baekje. 
* main chamber (玄室): the room where the corpse is placed
* tomb entrance passage (羨道): the road leading from the tomb entrance to the room where the corpse is placed 
* grave entrance (墓道): the road leading from the grave entrance to the room where the corpse is placed 

Inside there were 2 specimens of human remains, 1 gilt bronze earring, and wooden coffin components such as rings of coffin, etc.

Gilt bronze earrings are important materials that can track the buried person’s rank, grade and status and they were found in both Ancient Tombs in Neung An Gol, and the Ancient Tombs in Yeomchang-ri, which are estimated to be from the aristocracy tombs of Buyeo.

 

Earrings 

 

Also, the 2 specimens of human remains and the traces of primary and secondary digging found on the ground level of the grave entrance are important materials showing the additional burials (追加葬), a burial rite of that time. 

The gathered human remains will undergo joint research by experts of archeology, forensic anthropology, genetics, biochemistry, to analyze the buried people‘s sex, age, and time of death.

This will allow the recreation of the person‘s social standing in the Baekje era. The wooden coffin is to be restored based on the wooden coffin components that have been discovered as well to clarify the burial customs such as coffin placement, hearse transport, etc. 

 

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카카오맵

The Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage plans to work with Buyeo-gun to establish a continuous collaboration structure for the preservation and utilization of not only main historical sites but buried cultural heritages found irregularly, and thus implement a cultural heritage emergency investigation that the citizens can sense quickly.